Roster rundown: Wide receivers missed the mark leaving Bears with much work to do

Every team finds reasons for optimism throughout the offseason and the Bears were no different last spring.

But as they went through OTAs and minicamp in June, the Bears had natural concerns about their wide receivers. Things turned out to be worse than they could have imagined after Cameron Meredith was lost for the season in the third preseason game at Tennessee with a torn ACL and Kevin White, the 2015 first-round draft pick, did not make it out of the season opener against Atlanta, suffering a broken scapula that ended his season after two catches and 6 yards.

The Bears didn’t expect they would be able to bring back Alshon Jeffery in free agency after choosing not to place the franchise tag on him for a second year at a cost of $17.5 million. The decision was sound as Jeffery battled soft tissue injuries for a second consecutive contract year and missed four games while suspended for violating the NFL’s policy on performance enhancing drugs. The greater issue is they weren’t able to replace Jeffery and White could not step up and remain healthy. They tried but couldn’t attract higher-tier wide receivers in free agency with an unknown quarterback situation and coming off a three-win season. Kenny Stills turned down more money in free agency to sign with the Dolphins. Ted Ginn Jr. did the same to sign with the Saints. My guess is there was maybe another target or two they tried to land and didn’t. It’s not like they set out into free agency with Markus Wheaton at the top of their shopping list.

Coach John Fox also lost his wide receivers coach Curtis Johnson following the 2016 season. Johnson, the former Tulane head coach, had signed only a one-year contract but the Bears expected him to remain and he caught the club off guard when he bolted to join Sean Payton’s staff in New Orleans after the Bears coached in the Senior Bowl. That led to the hiring of Zach Azzanni, the team’s third receivers coach in three years, and he went through a bizarre situation in training camp when he claimed he’d sat down with White to watch college highlights in order to bolster his confidence.

“He forgets (about how good he was) sometimes,” Azzanni said in Bourbonnais.

That turned off White, who said he was watching highlight films with Wright and Victor Cruz, and that Azzanni was scripting plays while this happened, not leading a confidence-building session for the former West Virginia star. Detrimental? Not really. Bizarre? No doubt.

2017 season review: Wright, who had played well for offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains in Tennessee previously, was productive in the final four games with 26 catches on 38 targets to reach 59 receptions for 614 yards for the season making him the only wide receiver on the roster with at least 25 catches for the season. The last time the Bears had only one wide receiver with 25 catches or more was 1986, a different era, when Willie Gault had 42 catches and the next closest receiver was Keith Ortego with 23. Alas, the Bears ran the ball for 2,700 yards that year. For Wright, it was a question of opportunity. He was targeted only 30 times in the seven games leading into his strong finish. Once Mitch Trubisky started looking for him more, he started putting up numbers, including a season-high 10 catches for 107 yards in the Dec. 10 blowout victory at Cincinnati. When the slot receiver, a middle-of-the-road slot receiver at that, is far and away the top producer, it’s a sign the passing game has issues and that was one of the challenges Trubisky and before him Mike Glennon faced. To wit, Wright had only one reception of 20 yards or more on the season, a 22-yard grab at Green Bay in Week 4.

Photos of Bears wide receiver Cameron Meredith.

The Bears made a series of moves at the position and tried a variety of players. McBride was claimed off waivers from the Titans at final cuts but he proved to be mostly ineffective. The team finally gave up on Deonte Thompson, releasing him Oct. 11 when he’d failed to provide a spark on special teams. That didn’t look so good when he went to the Bills, another club desperate for receivers, and had 27 catches for 430 yards, including a 107-yard effort in his first game for Buffalo. Let’s not kid ourselves into thinking Thompson was or will be a long-term solution for anyone though. Gentry, who created a little buzz for himself in training camp and preseason, got a shot but he simply couldn’t get open. Gentry appeared in four games and logged 182 snaps but was targeted only six times, making three catches for 35 yards.

The failures of others consistently led the Bears back to Bellamy, who’d been so prone to dropped passes in 2016 but did a little better job securing the ball. Bellamy had the speed and explosiveness to actually get open and that led to him catching 24 passes for 376 yards, a nice average of 15.7 yards. Again, not a player you want to think about as a solution but he was a little more reliable than he’d been in the past.

Realizing they couldn’t stand pat, the Bears traded for Inman, who the Chargers were trying to deal in August, on Oct. 26. It turned into a good deal as the Bears gave Los Angeles a conditional seventh-round pick. If Inman made 25 catches, the Bears got the pick. Inman wound up with only 23 but the Bears didn’t hold back. In the season finale at Minnesota he was targeted 10 times and had five catches for 94 yards. He was learning a new offense and tended to disappear at times. Consider he went a four-game stretch with five receptions for 45 yards. Not ideal. The Bears wound up keeping the seventh rounder so that helps them out for 2018.

Wheaton turned into one of the biggest free-agent disappointments the Bears have ever had and there’s competition to fit into that team picture. He was coming off shoulder surgery when the Bears signed him in March as an experienced performer with the speed to take the top off a defense. Wheaton was a No. 3 when he was at his peak with the Steelers. He recovered from the shoulder injury but then couldn’t stay healthy. Wheaton had his appendix removed during training camp and immediately when he returned suffered a broken finger that required surgery and forced him to miss the first two games of the season. Three weeks later, he suffered a groin injury that forced him to miss three games. When he finally returned, the coaching staff barely put him on the field. Wheaton got a grand total of 24 snaps in a five-game stretch after returning from the groin injury and finished with only 187 snaps on the season – 123 in the first three games he played in. It’s no wonder he made only three catches for 51 yards.

The team rolled through options on the practice squad, with seven different receivers spending time on the developmental squad during the season. None of them turned into a hit.

It should be noted that Wright and Bellamy, among others, were active blockers in the running game, something that should not go unnoticed.

Free agency/draft priority: Very high. The Bears need help when it comes to wide receiver, cornerback and pass rusher with the offensive line in the mix somewhere near the top. But the wide receivers need to be completely overhauled and that is a process that will have to start in free agency. White has a guaranteed contract and will be in the mix but the Bears have to treat him like an added bonus if he’s able to stay healthy and contribute. At some point in the offseason, the club will surely announce it is declining the fifth-year option for his contract in 2019. Meredith’s future was bright coming off a breakout performance in 2016 and he’ll be in the mix once he’s fully healthy and ready to go. But the Bears are going to require a mixture of experienced additions in free agency and at least one solid draft pick in the room. They’ve got to give Trubisky some real targets to get the ball to, players that can get open, make contested catches and challenge in the red zone. The wide receivers combined for four touchdowns on the season. The Bears’ biggest problem on offense is an inability to score. They’ve got to find players that can get in the end zone and create explosive plays. The top two potential free agents are likely to be locked up by their current teams. Indications are the Rams will retain Sammy Watkins and the Jaguars aren’t likely to allow Allen Robinson to leave. That could leave Jarvis Landry of Miami as the top target if he isn’t re-signed by the Dolphins. Landry is a highly productive and competitive force but he’s pretty much strictly a slot receiver. Do the Bears want to write a huge check for a slot receiver? That’s a question general manager Ryan Pace will have to answer. After that, there are a lot of less appealing options and none of them profile as anything close to a No. 1. Sure, there have been really successful offenses that operate without a No. 1 receiver but it makes it a little more difficult. The draft isn’t stocked with a lot of options that look like elite prospects in terms of guys that would be worthy of the No. 8 pick, but there will be plenty of guys to sort through when you talk about Round 2 and later rounds. It’s going to come down to finding the right players that fit what coach Matt Nagy wants to do.

Change in coaching staff means: I’m interested to see what kind of player the Bears identify as the ideal for what Nagy is doing. Some have suggested smaller and quicker receivers and a lot of offenses have gone to those types of guys but, who are we kidding, if you can find the next Calvin Johnson, you’re going to take him in a heartbeat. The key is getting some reliable players that can help Trubisky elevate his game. The Bears are building the entire program around the quarterback and when you do that, you’ve got to give him some elite weapons. In Kansas City this past year, that was a wide receiver with game-changing speed in Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce, one of the two or three best tight ends in the league. The Bears don’t have either one of those players on their roster and they’re going to have to strike out in search of help. It’s got to be a two-part search too, free agency and the draft, and you better believe the Bears will also be keeping an eye on roster cuts from other clubs.

Bottom line: When this past season started, I said this was as bad as the Bears had been at wide receiver since 2011, the post-lockout season when they threw together a mishmash bunch of Roy Williams, Johnny Knox, Dane Sanzenbacher, Devin Hester, Earl Bennett and Sam Hurd. This bunch was worse when it was all said and done and it’s not close. Time to do better.